I'd like to begin this week's post with a bit of news about Achron, Hazardous Software's recently-released RTS that features a mind-blowing time travel mechanic. This past week when Hazardous patched the game to improve pathfinding and such, they also announced that each purchase of a new copy (including pre-orders and past purchases) will now include an extra copy of the game that can be gifted to a friend. I think it's a pretty good move to give the game some extra exposure, given that Achron is at its best when played online versus human opponents. Ozzie's review is pretty much in-line with how I feel: While the game has some foibles, the time-travelling stuff is the most revolutionary mechanic I've seen in a RTS game in ages.

But what of the colorful N64-esque image above, you ask? That screen (and the trailer below) are from Catapult for Hire, an upcoming game for PC, Mac and Xbox Live Indie Games by pixelMEGA Games. I should point out that the screens and footage represent early development, but I'm already enamored with the game's style, concept, and atypical applications of catapultry.

That leads me to this week's links, the first of which is an interview with Tyrone Henrie about developing the aforementioned Catapult for Hire at his one-man studio, pixelMEGA Games. The other link is to my IGC review of SpeedRunner HD, one of the recent Indie Summer Uprising releases on XBLIG that features some great couch-based multiplayer.

• Tyrone Henrie of pixelMEGA Games talks about developing Catapult for Hire

• Review: SpeedRunner HD by DoubleDutch Games

I'll also let the Catapult for Hire teaser trailer speak for itself, but you can also get a look at the game's first "How to:" video that shows how can use a catapult for fishing.